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Speaking at a Swansea Council scrutiny meeting, chief superintendent of South Wales Police, Martin Jones, said the increase in recorded rape crime - up 34.9% from 192 to 259 - was largely down to increased confidence among sex workers in the city to report offences.

"That shows the engagement we are doing," he said.

Recorded crime chart for the county of Swansea in 2018 and 2017 - CSP refers to community safety partnerships

The 20,104 recorded crimes in Swansea in 2018 included three homicides and 1,665 stalking and harassment crimes.

In a statement about the figures, South Wales Police said: "It is important to emphasise that crime is only a part of what our officers deal with and there are many other challenges we face, including mental health concerns, and vulnerable missing people, which our officers respond to and manage on a day to day basis.

“However, any level of crime has a detrimental impact on our communities and we are committed to tackling crime throughout the division.

“Crime trends do fluctuate for a variety of reasons. The proactive work carried out by our officers disrupting 'county lines' activity and drugs networks has resulted in an increase in recorded drug trafficking offences."